Tree Huggers Behold: The Biggest Floating Solar Power Plant is in the Works in Japan

Solar panels have limitless uses and endless significance to the environment. More clean energy businesses are considering canals, ponds, lakes and wetlands as building grounds as the new location of their new solar panels. At this moment, Italy, India, Australia and United Kingdom have been planning to build floating solar structures. However, the largest floating plant is currently being built in Yamakura Dam on top of the Chiba prefecture reservoir, east of Tokyo.

According to sources, they are aiming for March 2018 to finish the project. The Yakamura Dam project will power about 5,000 households, have 50,000 photovoltaic solar panels and cover 18,000 square meters. Most importantly, this project will neutralize almost 8,000 tons of carbon dioxide that emit yearly, which is the same as the 1,700 car emissions.

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This is an alliance between Century Tokyo Leasing Corporation; Kyocera, an electronics manufacturer in Kyoto; and Ciel et Terre, a company that operates, finances and deigns photovoltaic installations from France. The main reason behind the construction on water is to ensure that the lands are used for other developments, including conservation and agricultural use.

The three companies also explained that Japan doesn’t have a lot of land to spare. Besides the 13.7 megawatt floating solar power plant in Yamakura Dam reservoir, Kyocera also revealed that they are developing an identical solar power plant in Umenokifurukori reservoir. By March 2018, the Yamakura Dam project will be complete. So far, Kyocere has already constructed four floating solar power plant. Eventually, they will want to sell the electricity produced to the Tokyo Electric Power Company.